The Letter
by ButterflyGirl74
Summary: This is my second attempt at writing something for fanfiction.  My first for Criminal Minds.  I don't own Criminal Minds, though I wish I did.  :


Derek Morgan sat at the kitchen table and sighed as he laid down the pen he had been using to write the letter. He couldn't believe he had actually written a letter like that to his Baby Girl. A goodbye letter, he had written several over the years to various people. He remembered the first one that he had ever wrote. It was shortly after his dad had been killed and his mom had found him in his room trying hard not to cry.

"What is it baby?" she had asked.

"Nothing." he replied bravely.

"Well, I know it isn't nothing, so come on tell me."

"It's just I miss dad, I never really got to tell him goodbye or how much I really loved him." he finally confided.

"So why don't you tell him now?"

"How can I do that?" he looked at her like she had suddenly gone crazy.

"I'll tell you what I did that helped me, if it sounds like a good idea to you, you can use it. How does that sound?" she said.

Derek nodded and listened to his mother explain that after losing her husband she too had felt sad about not saying goodbye so she had decided to write him a letter. A "goodbye letter", so to speak. She had wrote of how her and the kids were going to miss him terribly and of all the things that were in her heart that she would have said if she had been given one more chance.

When she had finished explaining it to him, Derek gave her a hug and asked her for a pen and paper. He had wrote so much that day, more than he had ever written in his life up to that point. Pouring out his heart one last time. He remembered feeling good after that. Of course he still missed his father, nothing would ever change that but he had a sense of closure for the first time since it happened.

Over the years when someone else he was close to had died or been killed before their time he had written them letters as well. No one else knew of this ritual, not even Penelope, it was just for him.

He had never written one for someone who was still living however. Not that she was ever going to read it, for it served the same purpose as the rest. A sense of closure over what might have been. No, he wasn't leaving and neither was she, but things would never be the same again.

As of yesterday morning everything had been as normal as it ever had been. He had walked into the BAU in a good mood, it was Friday, there hadn't been any cases for a week and he couldn't wait to tell his princess good morning.

He had walked into the BAU in a good mood but 60 seconds later it had all changed. As he walked in he noticed Reid and Emily talking to someone by their desks. As he got closer he recognized the chipmunk face of

Lynch, Derek couldn't even bring himself to think of him as Kevin that just made him sound too human. As he got closer he heard him ask Emily and Reid, "Do you think she will like it? The guy at the store said all the girls drool over this particular one?"

Emily squealed "she is going to love it I'm sure?"

Spencer merely nodded his head in agreement with her.

Em looked up and saw Derek fast approaching and cleared her throat a little. Kevin turned around and saw who she was looking at and announced that he had to be going. And with that took off faster than Derek had thought the man could move.

"What was that all about?" Derek demanded.

"What was about?" Emily asked trying to buy time to think of a good answer.

"Kevin was showing us the ring he bought to ask Garcia to marry him." Reid answered.

Emily shot him a, "how can you be so smart and yet so dumb" look. Then looked at Morgan who looked like his world had literally stopped spinning.

Derek took a minute to regain his composure and then said they should be getting back to work and marched off to his office.

"Hey Derek," Emily shouted. He turned and looked at her.

Seeing the hurt and bitterness in his eyes she let what she was going to say die on her lips. She just shook her head and turned away.

Morgan reached his office and slammed the door. Then sitting down at his desk placed his head in his hands and let out all the air he had been holding inside. Well, that was that he thought. He would never stand in the way of her happiness and it was most obvious that if Kevin was going to ask her to marry him that she must be happy. Why hadn't he ever thought that the two of them were serious? Why had he just assumed that one day he would get that call saying her and Lynch had finally broke up. Because he was an idiot that's why.

That was when he thought about writing her a goodbye letter. Yes, he would still see her all the time for work and they would remain friends, but that was it. They could no longer be best friends and he could no longer entertain ideas of the two of them being more than just friends. He needed to say goodbye and let go just as he had with his dad and his other close friends.

A few hours later there was a knock at his office door, he knew without asking who it was. Before he could even say "come in" she had already opened the door and was standing there in front of him. He smiled despite himself. "What's up?" he asked.

"Seeing how it's Friday and my family is not out on a case and it's pretty quiet here today I'm asking everyone to lunch. Reid and Em have already said yes, what about you Hot Stuff?" she said in one breath.

"Sorry, but I can't I'm swamped here. Maybe next time." he replied.

She stuck out her lip in a pout. "What is so important that it can't wait an hour Sweetness?"

"Listen Garcia I said I'm busy, leave it at that ok?" he snapped.

"Ok sorry to have bothered you." she said quietly and then turned and walked out.

Great he thought to himself I really messed that up.

Which brought him back to the present. He read over the letter he had just written, when he was done he folded it neatly and wrote Penelope across the front. Just as he was finishing his cell phone went off demanding his attention. "Morgan," he barked.

"It's Emily, Hotch just called and said to tell you we are wheels up in forty-five minutes. I don't know much more than that, he said he'd fill us in on the plane. It sounded urgent."

"I'll be there in thirty, see you then." Within 15 minutes Derek had his go bag and was walking out the door with a "be good" to Clooney. As he got in the car and started heading towards the BAU he knew he had to call Penelope. He knew he was going to have to apologize for being such a jerk yesterday and hope she would still help him out. He dialed her number and she answered on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Hey P."

"Hey."

He tried to turn on the charm a bit, "Listen I just wanted to say I was sorry about yesterday, I've had a lot on my mind lately and I know that isn't an excuse but…"

She cut him off "Say no more, everything is fine. But Sug if you have things on your mind you know I'm here to listen."

"I know and you are right and that would be much better than snapping at my best friend. So listen I don't know if you heard yet but we are being called out on a case."

"Yeah, I'm on my way in right now."

"OK, well I had to leave last minute I didn't have time to take Clooney to the kennel and…"

"And since it's Saturday they close early and you want to know if Aunt Penelope can go watch the furball"

"Um, yeah", he answered sheepishly.

"Of course I will you know I love that dog almost as much as you."

"Thanks P I owe you."

"Oh don't get me started thinking of ways you can repay me. I won't get any work done. So go and be safe Clooney and I will be waiting for your return."

Derek hung up smiling at Penelope's words, two seconds later he was cursing his stupidity. He had left the letter on the kitchen table where he knew she would find it. He picked up the phone and hit redial.

"Miss me already?" she asked.

"You know I was just remembering the kid across the street volunteered to take care of Clooney if I needed him to for some extra cash."

"I see, did you give him a key yet?"

"Well, no actually," he admitted.

"Derek Morgan is there some reason why you don't want me to go take care of your dog?"

"No, I just didn't want to inconvenience you."

"Sugar you know that could never happen. Everything will be fine here, now you go catch the bad guy and get home fast."

"OK Baby Girl, thanks. And P?"

"Yes?"

Derek hesitated a minute debating if he should mention the letter and ask her not to read it. But she would anyway and there was the slight chance she wouldn't find it. "Never mind, see you when I get home."

Now that was an odd conversation Penelope thought to herself. Sometimes that man could be such a mystery to her. She regretted that she wouldn't get to see him before they left. But she knew he was almost there and there was no way she was going in without her coffee today. She was exhausted, she had foolishly invited Kevin over last night for a movie marathon like her and Derek liked to do. However, only a quarter of the way into the movie and she remembered why it was so much nicer with Derek. Kevin talked or complained almost non-stop through two movies before deciding to leave. She was determined to salvage the rest of her night and watched one more on her own. But it just wasn't the same. She had become even more angry at Derek for the way he had treated her that afternoon and planned on giving him a thorough chewing out about it the next day. If he hadn't been such a jerk she would have invited him to movie night and it would have been like it always was. Finally at 3 am after the third movie she had gone to bed. Although sleep did not come easy for her, she tossed and turned almost all night. So even though she was concerned about Derek and his recent attitude she was letting nothing stand between her and her coffee.

Arriving at the BAU fifteen minutes later she wasn't surprised to find it quiet. Minimal staff working on on-going cases, support people, but not many others. Her team, as she had guessed, was already gone. She let herself into her office and her phone began to ring almost right away. "Office of Supreme Knowledge" she answered around a mouthful of coffee.

Hotch's voice was on the other end. "Good you're in, we are ready to start briefing the case."

"Ready when you are sir."

Hotch began explaining that they had been contacted by a Sheriff Bill Meyers of the Dillon, Montana police department. It seemed that their small town was having a rash of murders over the last couple of weeks.

"Hmmm, that's odd," Reid said while looking over the notes that had been handed out. "There is no set 'type' of victim. They range in age from 15-72, both male and female. What makes them think it is a serial killer?"

Hotch answered, "Aside from the difference in the victims the murders have all been the same, gunshot wound to the head. And all of the bodies have been more or less tossed out of a moving vehicle on the side of the road. This is what is more concerning, the first victim was found on a Saturday, then two more bodies were found two days later or on Monday. And just yesterday four more bodies were found which happens to be four days later."

"That means…" Emily began with a shudder.

"That means," Hotch filled in, "That we only have eight days before possibly finding eight more victims."

"No wonder they called us in," Rossi said in a low voice.

Hotch gave out assignments for everyone to do once they landed, and then addressed Penelope. "Garcia, it's a small town, I want to know about the people there. Start with all the people who have criminal records. I'll give you more after we get there and see what we are dealing with."

"I'm on it," she replied. And with that the connection was ended.

After hours of searching and digging Penelope did not have much to go on. The town of Dillon, MT was a very quiet town. She actually thought it would be a nice place to live. Her searching had yielded her a few people with DUI's and petty theft but the last murder the town had seen was fifteen years ago. The person had committed that murder had died of cancer in prison. She did flag twenty people who had been charged with domestic violence and another twelve who had been charged with rape for the team to investigate first.

The team had just gotten Pen's list when they received word that an 18 year old male had gone missing on his way home from a friend's house. The sheriff began telling his men he wanted every stranger or visitor from out of town checked out. He refused to believe it could be someone he knew. Having no personal investment the BAU team was drawing a different conclusion. The fact that there was no sign of a struggle at any of the abduction sites suggested the victims knew the UnSub rather well.

Six hours later and Penelope was outside Derek's house. She could hear Clooney on the other side of the door. "Hold on, I'm coming. Aunt P. just has to find the key." Having said that she found the one she was looking for and unlocked the door. As soon as she let herself in she was attacked with kisses and a flying tail. "I'm happy to see you to too furball," she said affectionately. It had been a long time since she had been out to Dereks. "I'm so glad you have your doggy door otherwise I'm sure you would be about to burst." She glanced in the kitchen and saw both bowls still had food and water in them, so he was set for the night. "Well, buddy, I'm way past tired, so I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. You are welcome to join me, on the bed that is." Clooney gave her another kiss as if to say it sounded good to him.

The next morning Penelope woke feeling completely refreshed and ready to find some clue that could point towards the UnSub. Clooney had indeed snuggled up next to her all night which had made her feel safe and warm. She knew Derek hardly kept any food of coffee in the house so she determined to stop for something on the way to the office that morning. But she would pick up some groceries on the way home tonight. She gave the dog one last pat and told him they would go for a walk when she got home.

It was an unsuccessful day, any leads they had were almost immediately dismissed. And to make matters worse, a 30 year old mother of three had gone missing. Her and her husband and kids had been walking to the park when she ran into a friend. Her husband and children ran on ahead while she stayed to chat for awhile. Somewhere between talking to the friend and the two blocks to the park she had gone missing. Everyone in town was now suspicious of everyone else. The sheriff wanted to run all strangers and guests out to try and put a stop to the abductions and murders. However, the more they learned about the case the more the team felt it was someone local.

Having exhausted all he could do for the time being, Penelope locked up her office and went to pick up some groceries. Just like the night before Clooney was waiting for her at the door. "Hey big guy how about we have some dinner and then we'll go for a walk." Clooney barked at word walk and circled around excitedly. "I'm guessing that is a yes," she laughed. She carried the bags into the kitchen and set them on the counter. She put away the groceries and made herself a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. She also fed and watered her housemate and then sat at the table.

She had just taken the first bite of her sandwich when an envelope caught her eye. It was just an ordinary white envelope but clearly written across the front was the name "Penelope". "What's this?" she wondered aloud. Had Derek gone home and written her an apology letter for the way he was on Friday? Or did he know someone else named Penelope? She was having an inner battle on whether she should read it or not. But of course being who she was, she knew she would read it. If it was sitting on the table with her name on it that made it fair game, right? She picked it up thinking it was strange he hadn't mentioned anything about it, but then figured he had probably forgotten about it, after all it wasn't a big deal. And he had already apologized on the phone. Pushing her dinner aside she hesitated for one second before tearing the envelope open and removing the letter.

_Dear Baby Girl, (_see there is no other Penelope)

_I have written several of these letters, too many in fact, but this by far will be the hardest. _(What the heck was this?) _It started when my dad died, then there were others, to guys I knew from the police force to friends that have fought in the war and not come back home. But I never thought I would be writing a 'good-bye' letter to you. _(What? Goodbye? Derek's leaving? I always new it would happen one day but still, how will I make it without him?)

_What makes it even harder is that I will still have to see you almost every day. _(HUH?) _I know you won't understand at first why there is no more teasing and flirting, but Mama how can I do that when you are a married woman? _(What was he talking about?) _You deserve to be happy and I know Lynch, or as you insist 'Kevin', will make you that way. But Honestly sweetheart I really thought one day the thing with him would blow over and we would be free to give us a shot. _(Whoa)

_But now it's too late, he is going to ask you to be his wife and have his children and I have to exit gracefully from your life. Know it is the last thing I want to do, but I am glad there will be a beautiful smile on your face. Even if it wasn't me to put it there. I'll love you forever Baby Girl._

_Goodbye,_

_Derek_

She sat at the table in stunned silence as tears slid unnoticed down her cheeks. After a few minutes she put the letter back in the envelope, wrapped up her dinner for later and grabbed Clooney's leash. They walked aimlessly for two hours. Penelope thought about everything, the letter, the fact that Kevin was going to propose to her and what she anted he life to be like. They returned to Dereks and she felt better, she had made her decision and she knew what she had to do even though it was going to be very difficult.

It was five days later and they were no closer to finding the UnSub then the day they had started. They had five more victims though and everyone knew that if they didn't crack it today they would have eight more bodies tomorrow. The team felt defeated, he had kept them going in circles since they arrived there. To Derek the only highlight of his day was talking to Penelope. He had decided that until Lynch popped the question things would remain the same between the two of them. It was selfish on his part he knew, but their teasing and bantering was such a stress relief to him.

She had called before heading home last night to update them on her most recent findings. When she was through Morgan had spoken to her privately. "So how's everything on the home front? You ready to send the mutt to boot camp?"

She laughed, "Me and Derek Jr. are doing just great Sweetness."

"Derek Jr.? Woman are you comparing me to a dog?"

"Not at all but I do think you both have the same eyes. When either of you look at me and want something I give in."

Derek actually laughed, "Yeah I taught him that. But seriously P, I know I don't have much in the way of food and supplies at the house…"

She cut him off, "Ah Contraire, Mama has the place stocked to the brim. So don't worry about us we are doing beautifully."

"You are a goddess and I don't deserve you."

"Ah but you are my Noir Hero and I love you, so we do deserve each other."

Derek felt such a surge of emotion at that, that he didn't know what to say for a second. Then he simply said, "I love you to Silly Girl. Talk to you tomorrow." Penelope hung up happy despite the circumstances with the case.

By noon the next day all of that had changed. There had been another body drop. All eight bodies, including the one taken that very morning, had been found dumped on the side of highway 15. Needless to say there was a massive uproar in the small town. Citizens were leaving as fast as they could. People were locking themselves in their houses not answering the door for anyone.

Reid poured over all of the information again and again trying to find what he had been missing. "I've got it!" he yelled. Everyone came running at his shout. "I've got it" he said again.

"You know who it is?" Prentiss asked.

"Well, no but I have found something that I think will help."

"So spill already kid," Derek said somewhat impatiently.

"I've been going over the map and marking all of the body dump and abduction sites and they all seemed very random at first. But then I realized he is doubling those also."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"Just looking at the last eight days you can see how each abduction is doubled. He started near the school, then the next day a ¼ of a mile away he grabbed the next victim. The third day was a ½ mile from there then the fourth day a mile from that spot and so on until the last victim who was taken 16 miles away."

"That explains why he was so far on the outskirts of town when he took her," Rossi said.

"Exactly. And the same with the drop sites. The first was a mile from the center of town, the second was two miles from there and etc. The thing to keep in mind is he doesn't keep moving in one direction he just double the distance."

"We've got him now" Rossi said.

"How will we know where he is going to grab someone from?" Prentiss asked.

"We won't," replied Hotch. "But we will have an idea after he takes the first two victims what our radius will be. I feel confident knowing that, we will be able to find and stop him."

"So we are going to just sit back and let him take another person or people?" Emily asked.

"I know it isn't ideal but it's what we've go." Hotch explained. "We do know that he doesn't kill them until hours before he gets rid of them. So we should still be able to get them back alive."

"And what if something happens to him while we are apprehending him?" she asked still doubtful.

"We see that it doesn't," Rossi said firmly.

The group broke up to start their own tasks. Morgan lapped Reid on the back, "Good work kid" he said cheerfully.

"Yeah, thanks," Reid did not return the enthusiasm.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is I should have figured this out sooner Morgan."

"Hey now, don't beat yourself up over it. We were all stumped."

"Yes, but you don't all have my mental capabilities."

"That we don't boy wonder. But what matters is you did figure it out and now thanks to you we going to nail him."

"I hope so," Reid said.

"I know so," Derek told him. "I'm going to call Garcia and fill her in."

Penelope had just hung up the phone with Kevin when it rang again. "Office of Supreme Goodness and Knowledge," she answered.

"Hey Baby Girl, good news. We may have just caught a break thanks to our boy genius." He then proceeded to fill her in on what Reid had told them.

"That is awesome news Handsome, give him a kiss on the cheek for me."

"You can deliver that one in person," he laughed.

"OK spoil sport. Hey Derek do you think you guys will need me tonight?"

He thought about it, "No, I don't think so. Right now we kind of have to wait for things to happen. Why? Ready for a break?"

"Right before you called Kevin called and asked me to dinner tonight. So I figured if you all don't need me…." she let the sentence hang.

Derek felt as though he had been punched in the guy and had his heart ripped out at the same time. "That should be fine. You go have a good dinner."

"Thanks Handsome, if anything comes up you know that I'm just a phone call away."

"OK, well I need to get back to work Garcia. I'll talk to you later." And with that he disconnected the phone. Penelope smiled a little to herself. That was fun, maybe a little mean, but fun. After all he was the one willing to give up on them without even expressing his feelings.

Penelope carefully got ready for dinner with Kevin. Feeling confident in her decision to go to dinner in public rather than staying home in private. She had told him on the phone that she would meet him there, saying he lived closed to the restaurant and not to go out of his way to pick her up. Of course he had agreed. Part of his agreement irritated Penelope, he was always saying things like that. Wasn't she worth going out of the way for? She had been thinking about those kind of things a lot lately. It was what had convinced her that she and Kevin were great friends but that was all. There was no "spark", no passion and if she was honest there never had been.

She pulled into the parking lot and saw his car already there. So like him, right on time. He was already seated when the hostess brought her to the table. He had his drink in front of him. "I would have ordered you one, but I can never remember for sure what you drink," he said sheepishly. She assured him that was alright and their waiter was quickly there and took her order. "You look beautiful tonight Penny," he told her.

"Thank you, you look very handsome yourself." She could tell he was nervous, she better do this before he passed out or worse yet got up the nerve to ask her. "Kevin, do you love me?"

"Of course I do Penny how could you ask that?"

"That's not what I meant, I know you love me, but are you 'in love' with me?"

"Well, I care a lot about you we have so much in common," he stammered.

"I know that but do I make your heart leap? Can you imagine what your life would be like if I wasn't here?"

"I'm happy when I'm with you."

"I am too, but Kevin, I've been thinking a lot lately, and I think I see you as more of a friend."

"Just what are you saying Penelope?"

"What I'm saying is I don't think I want to date you anymore. And that if you are honest it's not what you really want either."

"But we are so perfect for each other," he said still trying to hold on to what they had.

"I know it seems like we should be made for each other."

"But we are missing something, aren't we?" he admitted. She nodded her head, tears forming behind her eyes. He laughed quietly "This isn't how I saw tonight going Penny, I actually was going to ask you to marry me."

She tried to look surprised, "I'm sorry Kevin, I really am. Did you really want to marry me?"

"It's what I thought you wanted honestly."

"Do you see how it would have never have worked? You can't do something just to make the other person happy, you have to think of yourself as well."

"I hope that we can still continue to be friends, I enjoy being with you."

"I want that too Kevin, you really are a wonderful person and someday you will find that girl who turns your world upside down."

"I hope so, and I hope you find that as well." They ate their dinner slowly reminiscing about the years they spent together.

Kevin walked her to her car. "So this is it?" he asked sadly. Penelope nodded not trusting her voice to answer. She kissed him one last time and got in her car. As soon as she knew he had walked away she broke down and let the tears flow. He really was a good man, he had always treated her with kindness and respect.

It was four days later and Reid felt like he had narrowed down the location of the next abduction site. This time the UnSub was taking his victims and doubling the abduction site blocks at a time. "So I am fairly certain that he is going to try and grab someone from near the intersection of Morse and California but we can't rule out those other locations either," he told them.

"That's fine we will put people at all the spots but concentrate our focus on that intersection," Hotch said. This was a tricky stakeout, they had people at several different locations and to keep from being seen they were all inside the homes of the people that lived on those blocks. After hours of looking out the window Rossi finally saw something suspicious.

There was man out taking his dog for a walk when he was approached by another gentleman who seemed to come out of no where. They knew each other and stopped to talk.

"Be on alert," Rossi said. Sure enough minutes later the second man pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and motioned for the first to get in his car parked around the corner. In no time their were agents and officers surrounding them. The man knew there was no way getting out he held his gun out as if to shoot one of the officers.

"Don't shoot him," Emily yelled. "He has to tell us where the other three people are!" The man smiled at her and pointed the gun in her direction instead. She holstered her gun. "Go ahead shoot me," she shouted. "But let those other people go." While she was talking to him Morgan had gone around behind without being noticed and wrestled the man to the ground knocking him out with one single punch.

Hotch walked over to Emily, "I don't know if that was the bravest or stupidest thing I've ever seen you both do."

She smiled at him, "I'd say the bravest." He just shook his head and walked over to where Morgan was with the UnSub.

The UnSub they learned was Dr. Brian Robertson, the town dentist. Brian had grown up in Dillon and had only left to go college. During that time he had met and fallen in love with Marie. They had gotten married and were expecting their first child, well children actually, when Marie was killed in a terrible mugging, right in front of Brian. Marie had discovered she was pregnant with twins after having her first ultrasound. They had both been so excited but Marie especially. She had talked about how having two babies was going to double the size of their family. Or how they would need double of everything like cribs, car seats etc. The day of the first abduction had been the two year anniversary of the mugging.

They finished wrapping everything up at the police station and were finally on their way home. Derek had mixed feelings about what to do about Penelope. He thought about calling her and telling her he was on his way home and that she could leave when she felt like it. But that sounded cold and mean. He would just face her when he got home, be happy for her and that was that. He had called her after they caught Brian and told her about it. She was happy it was all over and being Penelope, even felt sorry for Brian. She had also mentioned to him that there was something important she needed to talk to him about when he got home. So there he sat on the plane completely miserable and not looking forward to going home for the first time he could remember.

He walked in the door expecting to find Clooney and Penelope waiting for him. But his house was completely quiet. Her car was parked in the driveway, so where were they? He then noticed the leash that usually hung by the door was missing. Figuring they went for a walk, Derek decided to go grab a beer from the fridge. Hopefully that would make dealing with her "news" a little easier. After popping open the beer he went to the table to sit down. He noticed an envelope sitting there, not like the one he had left. Speaking of which that letter was no where to be seen, he should have known she would read it. But this envelope screamed Penelope. It was decorated with cute little pictures and sayings and on the front was the name "Derek". His heart was pounding as he picked it up, glancing around to make sure he was still alone, he tore it open.

_Derek,_

_I have a confession, I read the letter you left on the table. And all I can say is I'm glad I did. That's quite the tradition you have there, writing to people you never had a chance to say goodbye to in person. Still I have to say it isn't the same when the person is still around. I think you at least owed me the courtesy of saying those things to me in person. Still I can understand why you didn't. _

_I have to admit I was surprised by all that your letter revealed. I thought I would write you my own letter in response, but I'm still thinking of what to say. So for now I will just _

That was all she had written. Derek didn't know what to think. What was she thinking? Did she hate him now? Where the heck was she anyway it was getting dark outside. Just then he heard a bark come from down the hall in his bedroom. He heard her telling Clooney to be quiet and not give them away. "Penelope!" he yelled. No response, he started walking down the hall, calling her name but still everything was quiet. He paused outside his door when he saw another envelop taped to the door. He pulled it down and ripped it open.

_Dear Hot Stuff,_

_Hello._


End file.
